Richmond Times-Dispatch from Richmond, Virginia • 1

The weather Virginia State Newspaper Today: Sunny The high in teens The low near 10 Tomorrow: Cloudy The high in I mid-SOs Local Data: Page A-2 132nd Year No 17 75 cents Richmond Virginia Sunday January 17 1982 role for Virginia sees Better education pledged economy will be top priority Later in the day the governor and first lady Lynda Bird Robb along with Lt Gov Richard Davis and Attorney General Gerald Babies and their wives greeted members of the General Assembly and the public in the Old Senate Chamber The new leaders and up to 8000 happy Democrats danced last night away at the Richmond Coliseum Robb took the oath at 12:14 pm on the same Bible he used when sworn in as lieutenant governor in 1978 It was used by his late father-in-law Lyndon Johnson for inaugurations as vice president in 1961 and president in 1965 The former widow Lady Bird and younger daughter Luci were among the' crowd of more than 8000 on hand for ceremony They sat beside the parents James and Frances Robb of Charles Town WVa two brothers and sister also were present Anative of Phoenix Ariz Robb became the sixth man bom outside of Virginia to take office as this governor His number on the list of governors depends on who is doing the counting John biography listed him as the 63rd chief executive Robb a graduate of Mount Vernon High By Dale Eisman Times-Dispatch Staff Writer Declaring that the of her past leaders live in the people of and calling on those people to answer call of those who would inspire to serve us again in Charles Spittal Robb became governor of Virginia yesterday The 42-year-old Democrat first of his party to be elected governor in 16 years opened his administration with a promise to make better education and economic growth his top priorities And he seemed to speak to an audience beyond the Old Dominion with his claim that Virginia now ready to reclaim the leadership in national affairs she once His inauguration Robb said mark the beginning of a new era in the history of Virginia a time in which the character and quality of government do justice in the fullest measure to the brilliance of our unique Moments after his 20-minute inaugural address delivered in Utter cold as gloomy noonday skies cleared Robb went to his new office on the third floor of the Capitol to sign executive orders prohibiting discrimination in state hiring and freezing expansion of the payroll Staff Photo by Bob Brown Robb already had his left hand on the Bible but raised it somewhat in the confusion have to practice he later quipped to Carrico administered the oath of office to Robb The laughter stemmed from a mix-up when the chief justice inadvertently asked Robb to put his right hand both on the Bible and in the air HEAR THE ONE ABOUT Gov and Mrs Charles Robb Virginia Chief Justice Harry Carrico and House Speaker AL Philpott enjoyed a laugh immediately before Carrico Continued on Page CoL 2 uratton also the story man By Joseph Gatins Times-Dispatch Staff Writer The Robb-Davis-Baliles inauguration was also a story of 'people and emotions a time to see and be seen as Virginia through the real and symbolic transfer of power embodied in the oaths of office gathered to pay homage to its government and its leaders There were little people and more important people bands and the military and an 18-gun salute hundreds out to capture the scene on their own cameras people who came early and others who came late the influential and less powerful all together at the Capitol always a great occasion when the governor of Virginia is said Mills El Godwin Jr the only man who can tlaim that he twice was elected to the office Charles Spittal Robb inherited yesterday yes he said At his side as he proceeded to the reviewing stand was another inauguration veteran UiL Sen Harry Byrd Jr Ind- Continued on Page 7 CoL 1 Other inaugural coverage9 Pages A-6-9 Staff Photo by Bill Lane People more people and still more people line up to shake hands with newly inaugurated governor Bankruptcy surge laid to new law The inside story 17 sections 214 pages The world jordeal unbroken downturn in the economy is severe but not as severe as the amount of bankruptcy filings would indicate Bankruptcies are meant for catastrophic occurrences It for the convenience of a person who mismanages his Robert Bryan credit counselor By Carlos Santos Times-Dispatch State Staff Almost two years ago Donald then the father of two and a pollution control worker in Richmond owed almost $8000 to eight different creditors He and his wife owed money on their car had two personal loans from finance companies had run up large debts on their credit cards and even owed on a burial plot and a $300 magazine subscription They had nothing saved Even though he worked were really in over our heads quite a bit" said Donald who asked that his real name not be used Creditors called daily to demand overdue payments was beginning to be a nervous the 32-year-old said was depressed It got to the point where I dreaded coming home to talk with the creditors" How did they get so deeply in debt? one time we were suckers for everything down the he reflected Credit cards were too convenient High-pressure salesmen found an easy mark Creditor after creditor demanded money he just have was empty of ideas about what I could he said Bankruptcy loomed as a possibility brought up that But Donald and his wife decided not to file for bankruptcy for two reasons brought up that he said was taught if you have law enacted in October 1979 and co-authored by Rep Caldwell Butler R-Va an absolute disaster" said Jeff Smith head of the Greater Richmond Retail Merchants Association experiencing an ever-growing bankruptcy Some find new law too liberal Smith claims that the new law is too liberal say God easy to go And so a little financial pressure and they file Any sense of moral obligation has been federally and legally Smith said that one of the main problems with the law is that it acknowledge future while credit is given based on future earnings and payback The law also lessenr the discharge of debts under a Chapter 13 bankruptcy which has a repayment plan Chapter 7 bankruptcies which constitute the bulk of those filed discharge debts but also cause loss of property not exempted by law The filing of personal bankruptcies is so easily done claims Dr Andrew Brimmer an economist and former Federal Reserve Board governor that nationwide 40 percent of all bankruptcies filed in 1980 were unnecessary A study by Brimmer showed that in Virginia in 1980 there were 12725 personal bankruptcies at a cost of about $845 million The study claims that about $59 million of that loss was excessive and cost Virginians an unnecessary $11 per capita in 1980 Members of the Richmond merchants association had bankruptcy loss increases ranging from 27 percent to 480 percent last year Smith said Smith believe that the increase in bankruptcies is the result of the recession art not that difficult in Virginia It is the ease of bankruptcy under the new Robert Bryan agreed Hs is head of the nonprofit Consumer Credit Counseling Service in Rich- THE VATICAN and the British government take a giant step toward ending the rift that began with King Henry VIII i Page A-S By The Associated Press Polar air hit the frozen Mid- jii west with paralysing blizzards -a Ue State ANIAUVWNOflUofbitttrcoIdMdMowta't the Sun Belt over yet Page C-l The frigid winds sent the chill factor to 80 degrees be- low zero in places and the The area death toll reached 251 in a that hea" last weekend CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT budget proposal is one of the most severe the smallest in years would shatter some wishes break outbreaks of cold weather some promises Page B-l mid-America has seen since the said meteorologist Nolan Duke of the National Living Today Weather Service in Kansas City MINDING THE presents a look at day- While temperatures yester- care services for children in the Richmond area Page H-day stopped shy of last week- records were close to minus 30 degrees be- Area Section low zero across parts of Mon- Art J-9 tana North Dakota and Min- Books G-5 nesota with wind chills below Bridge J-ll zero as far south as San Anto- Business Section nin Texas Calendar J-10 Snow was common from the flaanfierf 13-6-27 Great Lakes across the Ohio Consumer H-ll Valley into the Northeast Crossword J-10 where New York City got its Dear Abby H-8 third snowfall in four days Editorials 1 G-6 A blizzard with winds of 50 Fashion H-15 mph also closed highways and Food H-6 caused many traffic accidents Garden H-19 across central and northern Hobbies J-ll Indiana Ohio and southern Horoscope H-12 International Section' A E-6 Continued on Page 2 CoL 8 F-14 Jumble J-10 Leisure' Section Living Today Section Movies Music J-2 9 14 National Section A E-6 F-14 Obituaries F-12 Perspective Section Quote-Acrostic J-10 Real Estate Religion A-10 Rowe J-14 Science Sports F-l-11 State C-l-14 Travel TV radio Weddings H-2-3 debts you pay And he and his wife had something else in mind trict of Virginia individual and business bankruptcies rose 33 percent in Richmond 655 percent in Norfolk and 151 percent in Alexandria in 1980 Compared with 1979 figures Although tighter credit apparently has caused that increase to slow checks with bankruptcy courts in the eastern and western bankruptcy districts in the state show that personal bankruptcies still increased in 1981 over 1980 In Richmond for example 2066 personal bankruptcies were filed in I960 there were 2185 in 1981 In Roanoke the 1156 personal bankruptcies filed in 1980 rose to 1300 in 1981 an 11 percent increase Lynchburg had a 7 percent increase between 1980 and 1981 Some observers say that hard economic times double-digit inflation a greater awareness by the public of their bankruptcy rights and even a change in attitude toward paying debts are the chief causes of the increase in bankruptcy filings But merchants bankers and other creditors point an agitated finger at the new federal bankruptcy J-2-3 E-l-5 G-4 F-12-13 J-12-13 J-5-8 5 1 I filed for bankruptcy be 10 years without credit I want to get into that position We eventually wanted to buy a Instead the family got help from the Consumer Credit Counseling Service of Richmond But the thinking that helped bring that Richmond family back to the brink of solvency may be fast disappearing For a variety of reasons bankruptcies are increasing In US Bankruptcy Courts for the Eastern Dis Continued on Page 12 Col 1 "HiO iiiiimy 1 1- ft.